Well that's something like 1 in every 14 people on the planet, which is jolly impressive.
But it got me thinking... what other organisation has 500 million active members/participants/customers?
And it turns out, in my totally unscientific and unresearched analysis, that there are quite a few such organisations.
The first one that occurred to me is the Indian Railways. With a population of around 1.2 billion, I expect that most Indians have at some time used their extensive railway system, and when you add in the numbers from previous generations over the last 100+ years, the total number of unique users of Indian Railways must be getting on for 1 billion or more (although the inter-generational thing is a bit of a cheat: they can't really be described as 'active' users - the phrase used by Facebook).
Next: France. Huh? Yes, really, and here's my dodgy logic: France is the most visited country in the world, with an annual number of international arrivals of around 75 million people.
So in less than a decade, France as a 'product' will be experienced by more than 500 million people (in addition to the actual French, obviously).
Granted: that's not 500 million unique users because lots of visitors return to France time and again, but I reckon that there must be at least 500 million people around the world who have visited France at least once.
Not convinced? OK then, how about this one: Islam. Actually, not just Islam but also Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism, all of which are estimated to have at least 500 million adherents.
What else? Well, there must be some products that are consumed or experienced by hundreds of millions of people, right?
Now here I really don't have the time or the patience to do much research, but I'm confident that Coca Cola falls into this category (4 billion drinkers, apparently), plus I think McDonald's, who claim to serve more than 47 million people around the world every day, so that would ratchet up to 500 million quite quickly.
My guess is that over 500 million people have driven or ridden in a Toyota vehicle, fitted a General Electric bulb, smoked a Marlboro cigarette, and made a cup of Nescafe.
And in the world of entertainment, more than half a billion people probably have seen a Disney or Tom Cruise movie, or bought a Beatles or Madonna record.
Every day more than 500 million people must use Microsoft software or search Google, and just this month the best part of a billion tuned into the FIFA World Cup final.
So 500 million users for Facebook merely signals the arrival of the social network as a Division 1 global brand alongside many others with which we are all familiar.
But there is something special (and slightly scary) about Facebook which sets it apart from all the others...
How many of the companies and organisations that I've mentioned above know your name, where you live, your date of birth, your family connections, your interests, preferences and passions, your network of friends and the friends of your friends?
We don't log on and update our personal details every time we buy a Coke or eat a Big Mac, but we do just that when we visit Facebook.
Think about the power of that: our most intimate details willingly submitted to a private company.
Imagine the value of all that information to advertisers, including the companies mentioned above.
And imagine that the database of users features the wealthiest and most connected, the impossible-to-reach but influential and important youth market, and millions of people in major emerging markets such as India.
That's the power of Facebook, and that's why 500 million users is an important milestone.
Who knows where it will end?
Oh, and one last thing: check out our Facebook page.
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